Israeli Airstrike Kills 3 In Gaza

Strike Targeted Hamas Leader's Home; One Girl, Two Militants Killed

(AP)  An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a building in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood after nightfall Thursday, killing a girl and two militants, Palestinians said, after six were killed in a strike in another part of Gaza earlier in the day.

The latest airstrike targeted a house of a Hamas commander in the Shajaiyeh section of Gaza City, near the border with Israel, witnesses said. Doctors said the dead girl was about 10 years old, and the other, linked to Hamas, was the brother of the owner of the targeted house. Seven people were wounded, including children, doctors said. Another militant, who was the father of the dead girl, died later of his wounds.

Palestinians said the customary warning to evacuate the house was not given this time by the army.

The Israeli military said the owner of the house, Ashraf Farawana, is a Hamas leader who was involved in attacks against Israel and supplying weapons to Hamas militants.

In a pre-dawn raid in southern Gaza, Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a crowd of Palestinians, killing four Hamas militants and two other people, Palestinian security and hospital officials said.

The security officials said the incident occurred in the village of Abasan, east of Khan Younis, after Palestinians gathered outside a building where Israeli troops had taken up positions. Israeli armored vehicles had moved into the area and fired at some houses in the area, the security officials said.

Palestinian officials said five of the dead, including the militants and a 14-year-old boy, were members of the same family. An 18-year-old also was killed, though it was not immediately known whether he was a militant.

The army confirmed Israeli troops and aircraft had operated in the area overnight. It said troops had identified and hit seven Palestinians, all of them armed militants.

The army has been carrying out an offensive in the Gaza Strip since June, when militants linked to Hamas tunneled under the border fence into Israel and captured an Israeli soldier, who remains in captivity.

In a separate incident, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the home of a Hamas leader in the northern Gaza Strip. The army said the building was used to store weapons.

The army and Palestinian officials said the home owner was warned of the airstrike ahead of time, and the house was empty at the time of the airstrike.

During the offensive, Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes on suspected weapons storage facilities after ordering the occupants out of the buildings. Israel says the warnings are meant to avoid civilian casualties.

Also Thursday evening, Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza at the Israeli town of Sderot just outside the border fence. The rocket struck an electricity pylon, blacking out parts of the town. Army Radio said two people were slightly injured. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

Sderot has been a frequent target of Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza.

[angryliberal-2009]

You think if these Palestinians cared at all about these children that the AP runs all over town to find, than they would get them the hell out of the houses. I have no sympathy for these terrorist families and sympathizers, they dont even have the decency to get their own children out of the way. IT IS SICK. The IDF has gone ABOVE AND BEYOND what is required of them. They send leaflets, they send messages on the radio, hell they probably send someone to their door to tell these people to leave. If they CHOOSE to remain at the house, well you figure it out.

[angryliberal-2009]

Come on Israel you are gonna have to do better than three if you want to win this WAR!!!! This is repulsive! These people who were killed must have been terrorists why else would they still be there after they were warned to leave? Someone needs to tell these morons that they REALLY SHOULD LEAVE IF the IDF warns them....I think that would be pretty evident at this point. I mean the IDF is doing everything they can to avoid civilian (and terrorist) casualties, but it does require just a smidge of common sense from the people who have been warned. Come on if the IDF told me to leave I would be outta there in a heart beat lest it be my last.


ISRAEL IS OUR STRONGEST Ally in the war on terror and the only country that knows the what needs to be done to stop these islamonazis.